Desert Rose
by FantasysAngel
Summary: [MalikRyou]when Yugi's grandfather falls ill, Yugi sends Ryou instead to lead his excavation team, and the desert rekindles a past he kept avoiding, starting with a certain tombkeeper. Yaoi romance, drama and a little humor. some cursing in new chapter.
1. So it begins

**Pairing:** Malik/Ryou Angstshipping I suppose they call it.

**Rating:** (PG) R for later chapters and language.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Yugioh or it's characters, and I don't own the ideas behind stuff taken from movies either.

**A/N:** Just before you read this, it is YAOI and certainly NOT A MARY-SUE! You know…just in case someone may get that idea. Characters I made up will play minor roles but nothing that would a Mary-Sue. Honest! Characters I made up will play minor roles but nothing that would be a Mary-Sue. Honest!

Reviews would be greatly appreciated!

* * *

They all stared in wonder, spellbound and captivated by his every gesture. Their eyes were glittery and full of desire for the man that paced from one side of the room to another as he spoke of ancient worlds and civilizations with much charisma and passion and telling his favorite stories of the Gods he'd heard from his father as a boy.

And it was why the students loved his lectures so much.

His classes were fascinating as were his findings and research and never found themselves bored for a moment. But that was one reason why the students all rushed to sign up for his lectures when it came to that time of the year at the university, and the young Professor always finds himself with more students than his mentality can handle.

He was also an attractive man, with long pale hair and fair skin, and the slightest foreign accent within his words, always making some audience at the university swoon and sigh as he walks by with a charming smile. And as much as they would try to work their way into the Professor's heart, he was a bachelor with a thirst for knowledge of the unknown, and never booked dates into his schedule.

But as good of a teacher he was, he was also very naïve, often wondered why they all stared at him with such dreamy expressions on their faces. What was perhaps even more frightening as he glanced around the lecture hall, was that he was getting the same expressions of the girls from some of his male student as well.

It wasn't until he turned his gaze elsewhere and caught sight of the clock that he announced the end of the class and their lessons for the next time they met. He couldn't be any more thankful.

"Remember to read chapters on the Mayan civilizations, which happen to be my field of expertise!" he yelled out with a light bounce in his step over the rustling of the students.

As the students filed out of the classroom (leaving more presents on his desk for him as usual) one colleague of his with vibrantly colored hair and a bright smile walked inside and towards him. He was the other infamous archaeologist on campus and the two made quite a team.

"Your lecture was amazing as always, Ryou."

The teacher smiled back while scratching his head bashfully. "Yugi… hi."

The shorter man then eyed the gifts on his desks and laughed to himself. "_More_ presents?"

Ryou laughed along with him. "I'm afraid so. This has to stop."

"Oh? But the students love you…"

"It's because they know I'm single." said Ryou as he began packing up his books and lecture notes with a sigh.

"Well take the hint and get acquainted with someone already if you're so annoyed with that." said Yugi playfully but Ryou only shook his head.

"When can I ever have time for romance when I'm usually out of town?"

Then it was Yugi's turn to sigh. "Ryou, I think you spend way too much time in those Mayan temples." Ryou rolled his eyes and knew where this was going. But he was willing to play along as always.

"They beat your Egyptians pyramids anytime." Yugi shrugged while going along with his opinion.

"Touché. The desert heat really sucks there. No really though, you think you can't find the time? Mr. CEO. of KaibaCorp. is now getting _married_, and I _know_ Kaiba doesn't just make time for anything."

Ryou scrunched up his nose. "That ice block? Who would marry him?" he snickered unintentionally and Yugi looked distant for a moment. When Ryou quieted down, his gaze was back at his companion again with an apologetic expression. "I got an invitation too, I'm so sorry, Yugi. I bet you still love her."

Yugi shook his head with a small smile. "It doesn't matter anymore, I'm not here about Kaiba's wedding anyway. Want to have lunch with me later? There's something I would like to discuss with you." Ryou paused for a moment, then nodded his head.

* * *

It was the end of the semester, and the pale haired professor found himself and a two others that would help on him on Yugi's quest, standing in front of the gate to their flight that would be taking them to Egypt.

He stared at his ticket for long, the gesture reminding him of his dueling days where he used to stare at his cards to decide the next strategy. The feeling was nostalgic. Even the whole trip to Egypt felt like it was going to bring him back to his past somehow, forming a very unsettling weight on his heart.

But nevertheless, as his flight number was called, he nodded his head towards the two behind him, took a deep breath and exhaled. Taking a trip down memory lane was probably going to give him several panic attacks.

"It's my grandfather…I've got the excavation at the end of the semester but I can't just leave him like that. He's very ill and he needs me, but I also cannot let the funding of the excavation go to waste."

Cairo.

Egypt's notorious capital and he already began feeling the desert's fury glaring at him from beyond the city. The marketplace was bustling with people running about their everyday routines and among them were some groups of tourists laughing merrily together while taking pictures and buying souvenirs, just having plain fun as some waited for the start of their tours under the bright sun.

The bright…scorching…sun.

Ryou groaned to himself and slid his shades back on.

"I know you don't do Ancient Egypt, Ryou, but I was wondering… if just for this one time, you can lead the excavation there for me while I take care of my grandfather."

He craned his head against the window of the taxi, trying to will his stomach to calm down from the obnoxious cab ride, he could almost swear that the taxi cab driver was an ex-F1 racer or something. He had already been nauseous from the plane ride before, a curse he never seems to over come since his career required a lot of traveling. But the group with him in the car seemed to be having a great time, getting quite a kick out of the driver's Arabic obscenities.

He sighed to himself inwardly, quite amazed at how cranky he felt all of the sudden. What was it about Egypt that he disliked so much? Traveling to other worlds was usually exciting for him, even with the nausea and all. But he figured, after a good shower and sleeping off the jet-lag, Egypt would probably open up to him again.

* * *

Ryou's group was given one day to recuperate, and were scheduled to head out to tackle the excavation sights the next day to set up their camp. The professor was surprised at the rest of his group as he met the more additions to his team in the lobby.

They were quite different from the ones he came to personally know that had always accompanied him on his field research. This, however, was Yugi's team, as they seem to be familiar with getting together again, Ryou felt oddly out of place. But meeting new people wasn't all that bad to him, just as long as they got along great.

The playful men among the group dealt with all the technical equipment and were out to film a documentary of Yugi's work. The younger ones were two students that were becoming Egyptologists and had accompanied Ryou on the trip. One medical doctor that was tall and wore clothing like a vintage mortician of the wild west, showed only one fixed facial expression that sent chills down Ryou's back. He was there to research microbes that inhabit the tombs of mummies. Three more men were a historian and some geographers he remembered from the night before, were running around whipping each other with the hotel towels across the hall on Ryou's floor.

Yugi's team. Quite a colorful bunch.

"Professor!" they called out and waved across the lobby where they were seated at a bar. Ryou frowned at them, looked at their drinks then his own which was just plain black coffee.

"You guys are drinking? Its too early for that!" he scolded them and one burly man downed the remains of his scotch and eyed Ryou up and down.

"Oi…we're going to be spending our nights in the desert without this shit, we're just fueling up before the camping trip." and he threw Ryou a wink, which made him sigh out loud in disgust.

"I can't believe this. Can one person at least stay sober!" he yelled then was startled out of his wits when one of them slapped his rear end.

"Oh come on teach, lighten up. The desert is no fun place."

"Yeah and if we're going to get stuck with you out there with no girls, we need to be drunk." said another and they all laughed together except for Ryou. He let out a long and frustrated sigh and faced the doctor who was also drinking in an eerie silence.

"Et tu doctor? Et tu?" asked Ryou which then got a solemn expression in reply. The doctor craned his neck back to down another shot of vodka, giving Ryou a sweat drop.

"Man…"

A deep throaty laugh was then heard behind them from across the hall. "Well, well, well. Look what we have here…" someone sneered, obviously directing the comment towards the group. Ryou turned around to look behind him, and noticed that none of the guys with him seemed to care. Instead, they just sipped at their drinks in silence. Knowing all too well who that voice had belonged to.

"If it isn't the circus freaks, how have you boys been?" said a man who was slightly middle aged and immaculately clean in the center of a big crowd of his own, heading their way. One man from Ryou's side had snickered at the newcomer's approach.

"What a snake…don't listen to a thing he tells you, teach."

The man's clothing was neat and looked quite expensive for field research, consisting of a polo shirt and a sweater tied around his shoulders with freshly pressed khaki pants and fancy brown shoes. He approached Ryou and stood just inches away from him, already intimidating the pale haired professor by violating his personal space.

Lean blue eyes then swept over him briefly and the man smiled intriguingly. "Why hello, haven't seen you around before." He said with a mellow tone of voice that sounded purely western, making Ryou cringe inwardly. "Where's my old friend Yugi?"

"Go away Crawford!"

"Shaddup will ya, the man's talking here." someone among the opposing group had yelled.

"I'm taking his place, he couldn't make it." said Ryou, calmly. Judging by his group's reaction against the man, he felt that he wasn't going to like him either.

But the man only pressed his lips tight as he chuckled while throwing a glance towards his own group. "I see. What a shame." his group laughed along with him, and then he turned back towards Ryou. "So…are you just another child to take on Egypt's greatest mysteries?"

Ryou's eyes had widened just a bit. "Child? Me?" he then smiled smugly. "Perhaps I should better introduce myself then. I, am Bakura. Ryou Bakura, and Yugi is my partner."

The man's amused smile and eyes only widened. "Bakura? As in, the son of the great Bakura?" Ryou nodded once and the man chuckled again. "It's hard to believe! you're father was an excellent archaeologist, very bold and fearless. I hope to surpass his work with my discoveries soon. It'll be my_…_greatest, _pleasure_ to be working with you, Ryou."

The man's silky voice came slow and sumptuous and Ryou watched as he extended out a well manicured hand towards him for a handshake. But Ryou refused it and crossed his arms over his chest instead, his eyes narrowing dangerously. "I work alone." a couple of whistles and chuckles were soon heard from Ryou's team. "My father will remain a legend among archaeologists, I'll see to it that he will." He said, his voice obviously showing disgust towards the man he barely knew.

The other man wasn't too impressed, and really hated it when someone made a fool out of him. Especially when it was from some youngster as Ryou. "Please, I would like to see you try." he then surprised Ryou by grabbing his chin with his clammy fingers firmly, jerking his head back, and the sound of bar stools scrapping the floor was heard as both groups readied themselves to launch at each other's throats.

The man's angry face then came so close to Ryou's that he felt his hot breath on his neck, making Ryou want to crawl out of his skin from repulse. His blue eyes now holding a mix of fury and amusement to them. "A delicate flower like you belongs between my _sheets_, you won't last a _day_ out in the desert." he spat into Ryou's ear. His men, who seemed just as neatly pampered, nodded their satisfaction to his remark, then roughly released Ryou's chin and backed away with a grin towards his team.

Ryou glared daggers while rubbing his lower jaw at the man's retreating form. The man known as Crawford then stops again to look over his shoulder one last time at Ryou.

"Alright then Bakura…" he sneers with a devious smile playing on his lips. "Let's see you live up to your father's name." then disappeared with his group out the doors of the hotel.

"What a moron…"

"Who the hell was that?"

"James Crawford. An Ivy League prick whose been pestering us and Yugi for a long time." someone had said and Ryou's gaze went back to the said group member.

"What the hell is his problem?"

The man shrugged and slammed his fist down annoyingly. "He's just jealous. Been at this shit for years and hadn't come up with anything. He knows your father and Yugi's grandfather and just wants to beat them both. But he was never lucky with his finds."

"Yeah, and whatever it is he does find is usually someone else's credit. He's a dirty little thief!"

"I wonder what he's here for this time." Someone else had asked and Ryou's brown eyes went back towards the entrance to the hotel in which the blonde middle-aged man had disappeared through.

* * *

They eventually met up with more researchers of all kinds from all over the world, and among them, which Ryou was too surprised to see, was Pegasus as well. In which one look at Ryou sent the man screaming and running away horrifically, making Ryou's team blink in confusion, and the young professor sigh out loud with a sweat drop.

One cheery brunette however, with handsome green eyes dressed in cargo shorts and a t-shirt came bouncing towards the men in Ryou's team. Waving and calling out to them merrily which the men just as equally returned.

"Wow, how are you guys? Where's Yugi! We miss him!"

Ryou frowned. The short one was really popular here.

"He's not with us this time, but Bakura here is filling in for him." Ryou waved sheepishly, and green eyes blinked for a moment then broke out into a bright smile, extending his hand out to Ryou which he took hesitantly.

"You're not an Ivy Leaguer too are you?" asked Ryou with a small voice, and those green eyes blinked dumbly again, then began laughing out loud with the rest of Ryou's gang.

"I take it you ran into Crawford? Is he here?"

"Yeah… that monster." then someone put a hand on Ryou's back. "Don't worry Professor, he's nothing like Crawford. Darik here is the best!"

"Craziest person I know, can't wait until our break huh Darik!"

"Yeah! We should hit those clubs again."

"Man the belly dancers here are sweet!" Ryou rolled his eyes when someone had speared his ribs playfully.

"Can't wait…" muttered Ryou.

"Alright guys….gotta catch my ride. We should meet up again!"

"Hell yeah…hey Darik, where you headed?"

"Giza! I have to go see my sweetheart, we're going to be here for a whole month!" then those green eyes were on Ryou again and the brunette slowly approached him, careful to keep a good distance between the two of them. "Hey man, it was nice meeting you. Any friend of Yugi's is a friend of ours, so anything you might need, anything at all…here's my cell number. Don't hesitate to call." Darik smiled, and Ryou shook his hand again with an assured smile back and watched him leave.

"Oh I think its nice to find some romance among scientists, we're always so busy." said Ryou and his partner shook his head.

"Not this guy…" Ryou blinked, then turned back to ask why that was. "Why? Who's his sweetheart then?"

The man smiled wryly and replied. "The Sphinx."

* * *

Ryou struggled to read the map Yugi had given him as his long locks whipped around his face from the wind. His group had been split into two and took separate Jeeps and drove out to find the promised sites with the geographers leading the way.

"We should be getting there soon!" one of them had yelled and Ryou nodded his head, being quite thankful for the end of the bumpy ride. He carefully handed over the map to the geographer and with his free hands, fanned out his hair in the desert winds then gathered it together to tie it up. Already feeling it clinging to his neck from the sweat.

A neigh of a horse soon caught his ears through the roaring engines of the Jeeps, and his eyes caught a glimpse of white material hovering in the winds atop a black horse, then vanished just as quickly as the image had appeared.

Ryou slid off shades for a better look around. But neither the mysterious person nor the black horse were seen again.

"What's wrong?" asked the geographer and Ryou looked back at him once, then out the sand dunes again.

"Nothing…I thought I saw something…" _or someone _he thought to himself. But when he looked back at the man again he was smiling at Ryou.

"Forget it, it's the desert after all. Out here, you'll start to see _a lot _of things."

"More like hallucinations from heat exhaustion. Jack over there swore he saw Martha Stewart out here one time."

"Nah, he was just high." someone had retorted and Ryou only smiled at their little bantering despite not knowing who that person was.

As they drove deeper into the desert, the men that rode with Ryou continued warning him about the do's and don'ts of desert survivorship, even though there were some kind human civilization in the form of rest stops scattered about the desert.

His gaze went back out towards the golden mountains of sand, the patterns of the dunes moving in lazy zigzags as they moved, putting his mind into a trance that he began nodding off. And when he awoke again after a quick sleep, it was because the Jeep was coming to a halt. Then brief bits of a disturbing dream came back to him; something about being trapped behind a glass with the golden sands falling over him, burying him alive as he pounded against the glass and called out for help.

At first, he had thought that they had reached their destination, but as no rush of excitement was heard, Ryou soon found out why.

A bunch of men on horses dressed in long black robes and turbans concealing their faces were lined just ahead of them, and were not allowing passage for the two Jeeps.

Ryou stood up slowly for a better look, but one of the guys with him held him down by his wrist. Ryou looked from the men on the horses and back towards his group member.

"Tombkeepers…" he muttered quickly to Ryou while nervously licking his lips, his own eyes back at the strange-looking men. Ryou's mouth had parted a little, not knowing whether to be thrilled or worried.

One tombkeeper then made his way slowly over to them on his horse and the Historian among the group sauntered to meet him half way. Everyone, Ryou had noticed, was watching in a dead silence.

The two exchanged some words, and the tombkeeper occasionally kept throwing glances over at the group, his eyes lingering mostly on the newcomer Ryou. And just when it seemed that the Historian wasn't having any luck with the tombkeeper, the sound of a horse's hooves beating on the sand was heard behind them, and the group all turned around to the sight of another man on a handsome black horse, this time dressed in all white. His face well concealed in a white turban too.

The person in white inspected Ryou's groups briefly, and when his eyes landed on Ryou, the pale haired archaeologist thought he saw lavender eyes look stricken beneath the turban as his gaze lingered more than they needed to, then directed the horse over to where the other tombkeeper was with the Historian.

Everyone watched as the assumed tombkeeper exchanged words with the other, occasionally throwing glances at Ryou, then finally, the one in white handed the other a scroll, and the man in black nodded his acceptance. The tombkeeper in black rode back to his clan, and they all, including the one in white disappeared beyond the sand dunes.

Everyone was smiling once again as the Jeeps' engines roared and got back to their route. The men with the archaeologist sighed in relief, and Ryou combed his fingers through his hair, glad to get over the tension too.

"What was that all about?"

"Tombkeepers… can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em."

"They get a bit touchy when people like us intrude on their territories. But all we need to tell them is that we know Yugi and we're fine."

"Yeah, all that fuss was about you teach, they didn't recognize you and thought of you as a threat. No offense I hope." Ryou bit a corner of his lip and shook his head

"Was the guy in white a tombkeeper too?" asked Ryou, and the men all nodded their heads.

"Yeah, they come in different tribes obviously. I think the one in white is a high ranking one judging by what he wears, the one that usually cooperates with Yugi." Ryou nodded his head slowly in understanding, and when he looked back at one high rising sand dune in the distance thoughtfully, white fabric rippled elegantly in the warm winds, looking almost like a desert ghost with centuries worth of secrets of lost kingdoms and hidden tombs, each with its own unique or tragic story to tell.

The tombkeeper was standing there majestically on his black horse, and watching over the caravan with the most intense gaze.

To be continued…

* * *

**A/N:** I know what you're thinking, Mary-sues? Like I said before, hell no, I don't do Mary-Sues, hopefully you'll look into my next chapters and see what I mean. think about it, why put myself through a novel-length fic if its going to be a Mary-Sue. 

Hope you like it !

Side notes:

1) I love Indiana Jones too!

2) man…if you experience those cab drivers there, you'll know what I mean. one hell of a ride!

3) this almost sounds like the movie The Mummy hehe, I kinda used the idea from that for Malik. After all, he is considered a tombkeeper too right? Why not have some tombkeeper friends!

4) also in the desert, nomadic tribes there are known to wear different color clothing to distinguish themselves from other tribes.


	2. Memories of gold

**A/N:** making a correction to that last chapter. I totally forgot that Pegasus' name is J. Crawford when I made up James Crawford. So yeah they're totally different people, and Pegasus won't be seen again. Remember what Bakura did to him with his Millennium Ring? So yeah, I think Pegasus will steer clear away from Ryou from now on –laughs-

Thanks so much for those who reviewed and yeah…I do need a beta.

* * *

Upon reaching their destination, the group was able to set up their camp under the watchful eyes of the tombkeeper, who stood patiently on a nearby hill with his horse. 

Ryou would occasionally throw glances over at him, feeling a bit uneasy in his work when someone so eerie was watching them like a hawk. He would try hard to concentrate on reading Yugi's instructions, but would often find himself quite distracted by the tombkeeper's presence.

On the other hand, the sight of him when viewed at another angle was just simply fascinating. His clothing, the strong loyal horse on which he rode, the sea of heat waves rippling behind him in shades of green, indicating vegetation in the distance ahead where the Nile River would be.

It was picture perfect, although the mysterious tombkeeper was not there to be put on display for the campers, and Ryou wondered how the team was able to work calmly under his watch. They were just ignoring him as if he weren't there, thinking that he was probably the only one going mad for no reason.

"Oi…don't worry so much about him. We don't mess with him, he don't mess with us. That's our code of understanding with all tombkeepers." said a man who was part of the camera crew, nearly startling Ryou and at the same time, was offering the archaeologist his canteen which he gladly took.

His face twisted up in disgust, spat out the rest of the liquid that burned his throat making the other man laugh heartily at him.

It just had to be liquor.

"Do you guys know him?" asked Ryou before fishing out his own canteen and gulped down the entire remains of his water. The other man shook his head a little in response.

"Been seeing him for as long as we came to work with Yugi, but he don't mingle with us, just mostly with Yugi, and _only _Yugi. They got secret lives, them tombkeepers."

Ryou looked away, thoughtfully. "I bet they would make a really good documentary."

"But Bob there… is like an old friend, always watchin' o'er us e'ry time. At least we think it's the same guy…" said another man who decided to join the little circle and Ryou blinked in confusion.

"_Bob?_"

The third person who joined them was another camera crew member, a lighthearted Irish fellow with a round belly. He smiled brightly and nodded his head. "We don't know nothin' about 'im or 'is name, so we just call 'im Bob." joked the Irish man and Ryou just laughed along with the men while shaking his head at their antics, his gaze falling back at the ghostly image on the hill.

"He's never caused us any trouble though, some tombkeepers can be very menacing, usually the low ranking ones." someone had said, but Ryou didn't bother to care who.

Instead, he unpacked a sketch pad he uses to draw his finds during his field work, along with his favorite pencil and started sketching the image of the tombkeeper on the hill. Biting his lip in deep thought as he imagined the colors and methods in which he could possibly use to bring the image to life.

And he couldn't wait until he was able to capture this timeless image fully. His heart pounded in excitement at the sudden inspiration, all thoughts on the excavation gone, and prayed that the tombkeeper wouldn't get offended somehow should he find out about his secret portrait being done.

Ryou made sure he wasn't looking while he was drawing.

* * *

He was laying back on a fallen beam and a pillar of what had once been an entrance to a secret worshipping ground, the eraser end of the pencil between his lips and just stared longingly into his drawing. He didn't notice how long his drawing had held his eyes captive until he was shaken out of his little daze, the corners of the sketch pad began rustling wildly in the breeze, not knowing when the winds had picked up so drastically. And when Ryou looked back towards the hill, he frowned. The tombkeeper was gone. 

The inspiration had gone with him as well and suddenly, was replaced by concern as the horizon where the horseman used to be got very hazy all of the sudden. A few grains of golden-brown sand landed on his drawing and he slowly brushed them off, sensing that there was something wrong in the sudden change of atmosphere.

"Run for cover!" someone had then yelled, making the archaeologist bolt straight up in his comfortable position. "SAND STORM!"

Ryou gasped then jumped down to help the rest of the men cover up various equipment in their steel cases that were sprawled out across the site. He then caught sight of paper scattering beyond the camp site and his brown eyes widened, Yugi's work was flying all over the desert along with his secrets.

"NO!"

As the rest of the team ran for cover behind some ruins that could shield them from the blinding winds, the young archaeologist ran out against the storm in hopes of gathering up some of the paper.

"What are you doing it's dangerous out there!"

"The notes, I have to save the notes!" Ryou managed to yell and quickly scurried after the papers. Picking them up and stuffing them awkwardly into his pants.

He didn't realize just how far he had strayed from the camp just to catch the scraps of paper, but the more he ran after them, the faster the winds had picked up and tried to fight his way through the approaching storm.

And when it hit, it hit him hard. Trapping him on all sides, blinding his vision and gathering sand grains in his mouth and nose as he ran. He then dropped to his knees tiredly, bits of paper were still seen out of reach. He hoped if he at least covered his head with his shirt he'd wait out the storm, but it was hopeless. The winds were strong and just tossed him around effortlessly, and his sensitive skin was starting to burn from the scraping of sand grains against it. No matter where he walked, the winds were always there and he found himself walking in circles within its wrath.

What a pathetic way to die, he thought to himself, if he weren't able to make it out of a simple thing like this. He envisioned the evil smirk on Crawford's face once he learns of how the son of one of the greatest archaeologists had died in a stupid sandstorm. He would let Yugi down, his team would tease him endlessly for years. He would be such a disgrace to them all. And out of all the things that could've possibly killed him in the past before, who would've thought a sandstorm would meet his end.

Ryou yelled out in frustration at his thoughts, trying again to run in hopes of beating the storm, but the heart of it was soon drawing near and he trips on the harsh weight of the sand beneath his feet. The rest of his notes were gone, probably buried in the sand by now and he was feeling hopeless as he desperately searched for anything that could shield him from the storm.

Mother Nature was one bitch.

First day on the job and already he was screwing up.

Maybe Crawford was right. He wouldn't be able to withstand the desert's might after all.

But just as tendrils of the storm's core began whipping hard against his body, trying to at least get to his knees again. A loud neigh of a horse sounded over the rushing winds and he desperately tried looking for the source. He managed to get to his feet once again, and when he turned around, was surprised by a big black horse charging his way, felt arms circling around his waist then hoisting him up onto the horse's back and rode out the storm.

When he managed to clear some of the sand off his eyes, he was barely able to make out long white fabric and lavender eyes beneath the turban. Ryou's own eyes squinted in thought.

Those eyes…he had seen them somewhere before.

He then closed them shut from the sandy winds irritating them and soon felt the rider's hands on him again. This time pushing him off the horse and onto the sand again, and then pressing his body against him slightly. And for as long as the howling winds of the sandstorm sounded, the two had stayed that way quietly.

* * *

Sometime had passed and the young archaeologist was starting to feel comfortable in his current position. He managed to doze off, the lack of sleep from time zone change and running after scraps of paper on the heavy sand began taking their toll on him. He was tired, and where ever it was he ended up, was too cozy to move. 

When he tried to open his eyes, he saw nothing but white and gasped silently, thinking that he probably did die after all. But as the white fabric over him shook, hearing piles of sand sliding off, the body pressed against him shrugged then sat up straight.

And Ryou had turned an interesting shade of red upon realizing just how close and strangely intimate their position had been with the rider.

What was even worse, as his dark eyes were now in better focus, they widened and the shade of red turned even brighter. The body he felt and was too comfortable with had belonged to their tombkeeper, and was patting off the sand that had covered his long robes and turban. _Damn…_ he thought to himselfand began patting the sand out of his pale hair while watching the other. _Damn, damn, damn. Of all people…_

he thought to himself and began patting the sand out of his pale hair while watching the other. 

"I…uh..I." Ryou sputtered as he frantically backed into the boulder behind him that stuck out of the ground, and realizing that the tombkeeper had taken them for cover underneath it. The tombkeeper ignored him and stood up to clear off the rest of the sand, and Ryou followed soon after.

"I'm…I." he tried remembering a few words of appreciation in their language, but his dry mouth and now scratchy throat hindered him from any form of speech and sent him into fits of coughing. He keeled over and desperately tried to moisten his mouth again.

The tombkeeper was still ignoring him and seemed to bounce back fine from the storm like nothing had happened while Ryou struggled to breathe. He put two fingers together and brought them to his lips, and whistled out to the now clear as day, desert. And after just a moment of awkwardness between them, the tombkeeper's black horse came trotting into view before them while shaking its long mane.

"Smart creature…" croaked Ryou, managing the only thing he can think of, then watched the tombkeeper take a canteen off his horse and handing it over to the archaeologist.

"Drink…it'll help." said a suave voice in a thankfully familiar language from beneath the cloth covering half of his face. That voice oddly striking something deep within Ryou's conscious. Ryou took the canteen slowly and drank, then splashing some on his face to clear the sand off. It was much relief, and he was able to breathe clearly for the moment.

But as soon as Ryou was done wiping his face with one hand, the said hand lingering over his mouth, his eyes caught the other man's movements, and the tombkeeper began slipping off his long robe with his back to Ryou.

Those sore brown eyes had then widened in shock, felt as though time had stopped, his body freezing up on itself despite the strong sun beaming down on him, and he didn't need for the turban to come off to find out who their mystery tombkeeper had been after all.

When the white robe slid off the shoulders, then down his muscular back and waist slowly. The undulating fabric revealed deep bronze skin with very familiar hieroglyphs tattooed all over his back.

The winged sun-disc across his broad shoulders was what triggered it, and all of Ryou's memories of his dueling days, memories with the Sennen Ring and the awful spirit that possessed him, then not so very fond memories of a certain blonde whose dark laughter still echoed hauntingly in his ears, a good chunk of his youth long kept locked away now came flooding back to him in heaps, playing his life right before his eyes like some silent, black and white movie.

The canteen fell from his hand and hit the sand with a soft thud.

When the turban came off and golden-blonde strands fell just beyond the tombkeeper's shoulders, Ryou's dreadful suspicions were confirmed and he gasped silently.

"M…Malik…"

* * *

Ryou felt stricken, the desert breeze suddenly cool against his heated body, and his head was spinning from the overwhelming memories of his adolescence. 

He watched the blonde shake off his clothing from the sand then laying them neatly over his horse, then ran his fingers through his locks; strong-looking hands bound by his signature gold cuffs on his arms, ruffled his hair momentarily that was partially damp from sweat. He then combed it down neatly, all the while still not acknowledging the archaeologist's presence.

But of course he was a tombkeeper, how could he have forgotten? After all, it was what drove the blonde to insanity, this dreaded inheritance that's been bestowed upon him since his early youth.

Ryou found himself mesmerized by his every move, second guessing himself over and over again to whether if it really was the boy he once knew. He didn't want to know mainly because he'd been avoiding his past all these years, a past _he_ was apart of, only now to have a piece of a living reminder bring it all back in just a mere second. But everything about the blonde was unfortunately the exact same as how Ryou remembered him last.

That blonde hair, exotic lavender eyes lined with thick kohl. And those tattoos…

Unmistakably him.

Then upon remembering his team mate's words _"He don't mingle with us, just mostly with Yugi and only Yugi."_

Well of course. Yugi, well primarily the Pharaoh, was the one who'd saved him from his darkness, and now stands guard over the one precious thing Yugi loved most in the world somewhere in these very deserts of Egypt. The Pharaoh's tomb. _His _Pharaoh.

He only owes it to Yugi to accept his job for what he had done for him at Battle City.

Ryou's head spinning was now turning into a dull headache.

Okay… so it was Malik, no big deal. It had been almost a good ten years since he had seen him last, enough time for anyone to change in attitude and body appearance. And from what Ryou was able to see ever so enviously, Malik hadn't changed _much_, he just… _grew_ up.

He was still pretty much Ryou's height but had a more mature air to him. His perfectly etched physique still well preserved from his teen years. Not much difference only that he was a little bigger, filling up the gold accessories on his arms so that they hugged his muscles perfectly.

He was startled out of his lingering gaze when those wild eyes finally landed on him when the tombkeeper bent down to pick up the canteen slowly from in front of Ryou, silent and cautious as if studying Ryou carefully, then turning away to give his horse some water to drink out of his hand.

Ryou opened his mouth to say something, anything just to break the awkward tension between them, but found himself quite speechless when he was usually the one for words.

Then at last, if not thankful, at least the odd silence was broken, the other finally spoke. "Where's Yugi?" he asked and Ryou felt like he had been slapped in the face. He sighed irritably, then turned his head away with a dramatic rustle of his pale long hair that came loose from the storm and hung over his chest.

First meeting in so long, and the guy asks him about someone else.

"Sorry if my presence offends you, it's not like I wanted to be here." retorted Ryou, feeling a little surprised at his quick remark but didn't show it. Instead, he just sighed quietly again and sagged his shoulders glumly after a moment.

"He couldn't make it, his grandfather is ill so he stayed behind to take care of him and sent me in his place instead." He answered slowly, and when he got nothing else in return from the blonde, Ryou's gaze wandered back at him and wondered if he even heard him.

Malik then busied himself with the horse's saddle, untying it and dusting it, then brushing off the sand on the animal's back with much care, putting all his concentration on his work. Then what seemed like forever for Ryou, he spoke again. "That was pretty careless of you back there, these storms can be really dangerous, you know."

Ryou rolled his eyes a little, again feeling struck in the face. "I know. I just didn't want Yugi's work wandering off like that." and then his brows furrowed together disappointedly. Yugi's field instructions were gone and he only had a vague idea on what they came here for.

Malik's movements had then stopped and his narrowing eyes hit Ryou with an unreadable expression. "Might as well just hand over his secrets on a silver platter to the other archaeologists, if those notes got into the wrong hands..." he said, his tone of voice matching his expression, neither angry nor hinting any concern for the man who almost risked his life for those notes. He just kept a solid face for someone he hadn't seen for years.

If anything, his expression seemed cold.

"Well sorry, that's why I had to get them back. Storm or no storm, Yugi's trust is on the line here, I couldn't mess things up for him. He was really looking towards this excavation, and now…I have no clue on what to do." muttered Ryou slowly, realizing just how much of a fool he seemed under Malik's intimidating truth. How was he going to lead the excavation now without those notes?

Another awkward silence fell between them, and Malik didn't pretend to see just how disheartened the other had been for losing them. He'd seen it happen many times before with other archaeologists, and knowing what it was like to work with Ryou before, knew how prone to misfortunes the boy could be.

He jumps back onto his horse again after tying back the saddle firmly, and with an inward sigh, watched Ryou again, whose gaze was downcast as he rubbed his arm a little. "Get on; I'll take you back to camp." He said in a much lighter tone of voice, not really knowing where the little feeling of empathy came from.

But Ryou watched him for a moment, a look of surprise crossing his eyes for a brief second, then threw his loose hair back stubbornly over his shoulder. "I can find my own way back thank you." and as soon as he began marching away, he felt the other's strong grip on his arm, holding him back. Ryou whipped his head back at him, angry dark eyes clashing with hard lavender ones.

"What?" he yelled and Malik cocked his head towards a patch of sifting sands in his direct path.

"Quicksand…" he simply said, and Ryou followed his gaze towards his now sinking foot. He gasped and pulled away roughly with that supernova blush creeping back into his face again.

When Ryou looked at the tombkeeper for a moment before taking his hand and climbing onto the horse behind him without another word, he thought he saw a ghost of a smile playing on the other man's lips.

* * *

Having had experience with horses before on his previous expeditions, Ryou knew that when two people rode it, it involved a lot of embarrassing touching and closeness of the intimate kind which he could not tolerate at all, and was the reason why he always asked for his own horse. But now the situation was different, and being Ryou meant giving himself headaches over pointless issues. Which he would argue back saying that they are a big deal. 

And this was definitely one of them.

He didn't even know where to put his hands to hold on, and when Malik ordered the horse into full speed, Ryou yelped and nearly fell back, lurched forward for a firm grip, then found a place for his hands after all. Which were all over the other man's bare abdomen, his cheek pressed into the moist skin of Malik's tattooed back.

Ryou blinked in embarrassment, gritted his together and muttered a string of apologies for his sloppiness, but Malik didn't seem to mind, or maybe was just ignoring him entirely again as he kept his gaze forward. Upon that last thought, Ryou frowned.

Then pale lips formed a silent 'oh' when his fingers felt the crevices between muscle on the other man's chest and he froze in embarrassment. He tried moving his arms a bit but the desert heat was doing something very cruel to him. Making Ryou wish he had worn longer sleeves, because now Malik's curvy body was glistening in sweat and his arms were stuck around him, so if Ryou were to move them again…

He quickly thought of a distraction, then remembered the piles of paper scattering across the desert and running away with the wind. How his partner's excavation was going to hell without them, and thought of what he should be doing next. Ryou could tell him, and have him compile up another set of notes for him, but didn't know how long that would take. Tell his teammates that he couldn't save them from wandering off, and continue working anyway in hopes of finding something. But what if they ended up going home without any results? Then Yugi would be really disappointed, never trust Ryou with anything ever again.

He sighed to himself sadly.

What luck.

And what was even worse, he got stuck with Malik of all people. 'Stuck to' was more like it. In this embarrassing position, on a nauseating horse.

And he was being mean…

And Ryou's jeans were suddenly feeling too tight.

And his stomach was starting to turn on itself.

Brown eyes widened slowly.

"Why me…?"

* * *

Malik stopped just a little further away from the camp where the rest of the group was seen fixing up whatever the furious winds had messed up. 

He lent Ryou a hand upon noticing the other's cloudy eyes and bloated cheeks when he slowly and carefully got off the horse. When his feet touched the ground, Ryou leaned over and away from the horse and held his stomach. He took in a few deep breaths of air, and Malik shook his head in pity at him.

Ryou noticed and narrowed his eyes threateningly and immediately straightened himself up. "I get motion sickness okay, so what?"

Malik snickered. "You're so hopeless, and you call yourself an archaeologist?"

Ryou stomped his foot and began walking away. "Should've just let me walk back, I would've been fine."

"Yeah…more like, buried alive." said Malik flatly and Ryou stopped in his tracks, clenched his fists at his sides, then closed his eyes to expel all negative thoughts of the blonde out of his mind, then began walking towards camp again with a frustrated sigh.

"Whatever…"

Malik heard him mutter and one corner of his lips curled upward. He then grabbed hold of the reign to direct his horse in the opposite direction. But before he headed out, he yells back. "Good to see you again, Ryou."

And when Ryou stopped in his tracks again and looked back over his shoulder at the other, Malik was already gone. He tucked his long hair behind one ear from the light desert breeze, and a small smile formed on his lips anyway.


	3. Taking control

Ryou and his team decided to go along with their mission after all while working around the storm's destruction from the previous day. The young archaeologist was quite relieved to have such a supportive team, and had agreed to help him with the excavation despite their missing instructions. Luckily for them, the Historian among the group had a pretty good idea on what it was Yugi was searching for.

And so they agreed to work throughout the night, as the storm had caused more damage than it seemed possible. Come morning, they would have a pretty good start on their project.

By the time the sun reached mid sky the next day, the lack of sleep adding to the aching shoulders, dry throats, and just every pain possible that working in the sun can leave you with, the gang managed to uncover their equipment from the sand while setting up various dig plots as well.

Ryou knew that if he sacrificed sleep for work, that it would leave him just as frustrated as anyone would, especially without any coffee around. But it was so bad, that it got to the point where every little thing was making him jittery. Even the amount of sand he had to deal with was already making him sick of seeing it everywhere, and was amazing how it managed to get into almost _everything_. Well the storm's furious winds were quite strong, but that didn't explain how the sand got into his _pants_.

He sighed to himself as twin streams of tears waved down his face in a chibi-like manner as he worked.

It was really…_really_ uncomfortable.

Meanwhile, wide, alert and plenty rested eyes watched the group's every move from where he sat comfortably up on his horse from afar, cool as a cucumber in his attire that shielded him from the scorching desert sun and sand. Apparently, Yugi's team must've known him quite well if they were able to work like this with him watching them closely. Ryou occasionally stopped to throw glances over at him, paranoia always being a problem for him and kicking in to add to his irritations.

Something about his presence unnerved him greatly and Ryou was already in a mood to pick a fight with anyone.

His victim just _had_ to be the tombkeeper.

He stopped what he was doing to look around his scattered group, they were all _busy_! And no one seemed to notice the tombkeeper's apprehensive gaze. It was annoying! And it seemed that it was _only_ getting to him.

Ryou shrugged his shoulders, and continued working again, thinking that maybe he too can blow him off. _Just pretend that he's not there!_

But so much for pretending…

Only moments later, his protractor fell with a clatter after the needle pierced through the map from his agitated grip on the utensil, and his narrowing eyes fell back on the figure in the distance. Two men nearby overlooking some documents as well, noticed the archaeologist's unease and exchanged glances.

"Alright there?"

Ryou's teeth gritted together. "Fine…" and picked up the protractor again. But this time, he only twirled it in his fingers. Once the other two men were busy again, Ryou's eyes wandered back to the horseman.

And those brown eyes narrowed again.

There he was…just sitting there like he owned the place, Ryou was almost convinced that Malik was mocking him from where he sat happily on his horse, watching over them, like a king would over his slaves, as they worked blindly without any means to guide them anymore, and because of that, had their work load double the amount more than necessary. Which involved more digging that could keep them from meeting their deadline, which meant longer stay in the desert… and it was So. Very. Hot.

And he just sat there…

Watching.

Watching.

Just watching…

Then finally, the tombkeeper looks away while combing his fingers through his horse's long locks, patting it lovingly. _Oh bored now are we? Not much of a sight now, huh?_

And that did it. Ryou threw the protractor down loudly, catching everyone's attention, and they all watched him march over towards the tombkeeper in wonder.

His mind had been wandering with his thoughts, wild eyes scanning the skies for anything familiar that may catch his attention. Another storm maybe, he could warn the others in advance, carrier pigeons, falcons from other tombkeepers…or maybe even hidden signs of any fortunes, good or bad, yet to come.

But there were no clouds to read, no birds with messages, only endless blue skies, a bright sun and…

Mean, clear brown eyes.

The tombkeeper blinked from under his turban. _How scary…_

"What! What is it? Desert not big enough for you! What the hell is your problem?"

Huh?

"Stop watching us like that its creeping us out! We're trying to work!" yelled Ryou then was able to breathe finally. When his face was relieved and opened his eyes slowly from his little tantrum, he found those exotic lavender eyes blinking in confusion at him, then narrowing to a flat expression.

"Fine…" he said, while picking up what looked like a shotgun and slinging it over his shoulder casually. Ryou's eyes widened as he eyed the gun fearfully. "Then you keep the jackals away."

Ryou's wide eyes blinked childishly, and began looking all around him nervously. "Jackals? around _here_? Are there really?"

The tombkeeper shrugged carelessly and tugged his horse to ride away. "We'll know when we find you torn to shreds." he simply answered and Ryou was left gawking in disbelief.

The tombkeeper disappeared out of sight, and Ryou walked back to camp with a self-assured poise, but kept an eye out for any threatening creatures as well.

He caught the bewildered gazes of his team and they all went back to work like nothing had happened.

* * *

It was late into the afternoon when the group decided to call it quits and rest up for the night. Even though they were starving by now, they mostly only reached for their drinks than to start thinking about any food. The day's workload left them quite dehydrated. 

Ryou sighed to himself as one of the students among the group put down yet another empty water tank. He knew they couldn't afford working by night all the time as they would use up their water supply indefinitely and be left with nothing until their weekends off where they can restock.

But he found it working better by night, at least they wouldn't have to endure the sun's fury, but had to admit the day's light brought things into better view. Ryou frowned to himself, missing the beautiful jungles of India greatly where at least fresh water was always nearby, and he would steal himself away for a quick shower. But in this desert, nothing was as good as the jungles, and the little water they had here had to be used wisely. At least until they would get back to civilization on their days off.

Ryou unbuttoned his shirt and let it loose completely, enjoying the cooling air of the coming night enveloping his flushed body. He laid back against on one flat boulder that formed a semi-circle with a couple others where the men gathered around to build a campfire in the middle, and let his eyes wander to the skies where a few stars were starting to glitter in the myriad colors of a dying sun. Briefly picking up pieces of a frantic conversation involving one group member's choice of dinnerwhich was some unknown desert critter that Ryou certainly did not want to know aboutwhen there was plenty of normal food available. He smirked a little at this, they were quite an amusing bunch.

He let his thoughts wander until it carried him into sleep, which were mostly on a certain tombkeeper and his lifestyle after the whole Battle City incident. But Ryou knew if Malik was anything like him, then that whole tournament and all that occurred before and during the event, were long suppressed to never be discussed again.

He didn't know when he had fallen asleep, but when he had awakened the next day after a very lumpy, but fairly satisfying sleep, he yawned then stretched the kinks out of his arms and back, then opened his eyes slowly to adjust towards the brightness of the morning.

Only to find a pair of lavender eyes staring directly at him, hovering just a little above him.

There was no turban, no white cloth covering him completely, only regular clothing, and long blonde hair framing a very handsome face, and in that brief moment, Ryou thought that he was fifteen again and that awfully close face belonged to an also fifteen-year-old Malik, and was probably going to berate Ryou to win the next duels for him. But he remembered his place in the desert in thenow, Yugi's mission, and the fact that _that_ particular event happened already, which took place ten years ago.

With that confusion straightened out, it then finally occurred to him, as his brown eyes widened, just how close the other man had been, and a blush immediatelybroke out on his face."What the hell are you looking at?"

The blonde let out a 'humph' and his eyes met with Ryou's in a scowl, only to go back to where they had been planted in first place which Ryou just noticed, weren't staring at him directly, but somewhere beyond his shoulder.

"How rude, I don't even get a good morning? From what I know, you English are quite the gentlemen, y_ou_ on the other hand, are anything but…" he said dully, still fixing his gaze in that same direction as Ryou's fists bean curling at his sides.

"I'll show _you _gentle…" scowled Ryou, but Malik slapped one hand down at the side of his head and brought the other to hover just a little over Ryou's forehead, his gaze becoming more intense. Ryou winced, but noticed that Malik's attention was clearly trying to focus on something else.

"Don't move." warned Malik and Ryou glared.

"Why? What are you doing anyway?"

And all Malik shot back with was a 'shush', which Ryou didn't like very much judging by the way his teeth were grinding together.

"Don't you 'shush' me! What are you" hefought backthen Malik clamped his mouth shut with his hand, and held down Ryou's wrists over his head to still him. Ryou's eyes widened again frantically then struggled against his grip which was quite firm, then noticed Malik leaning in slowly, lavender eyes back on his, whispering "Just don't… move."

Ryou let out a muffled answer and watched the other slowly leaning in some more to reach into his long pale hair to pick something out. Malik's weight was subtle over him, as his chest pressed onto his slowly, but didn't help much with his nerves. He was _too _close for comfort, and Ryou briefly felt soft pounding of his heart against his own chest, stringing up one memory Ryou ever remembered having.

When Malik finally withdrew from him, taking his hand off from over his mouth to allow him to breathe, the blonde gave a few jerky movements, thinking it was better to get rid of the menacing _thing_ that wanted to make a home out of the Ryou's hair before he got to see it and possibly pass out from the sight, knowing how sensitive the man could be.

Ryou let out a quiet sigh, still lying on his back, and just watched Malik with suspicious eyes as the blonde allowed the other some room upon noticing just how close he was to him as well, but didn't really think anything of it. He just smiled smugly, and Ryou propped himself on his elbows, combing his fingers through his hair where he felt Malik untangle something from it.

"What was that?" he asked upon inspecting his hair, and Malik just pointed to the ground without another word, and the expression on his face, Ryou noticed, was the liveliest he had ever seen it since he met up with him. Reminding him of Malik's fifteen year-old-self again.

The one he had put on for show to hide his evil intentions.

Ryou followed his finger to a smashed, black smudge on the ground with its curled tail still twitching in its spot.

_A scorpion...just lovely…_ Ryou's eyes widened again horrifically.

"It wanted to make a nest in your hair." said Malik flatly, and literally didn't see what hit him when Ryou sat up so suddenly upon ruffling his hair for anything else,muttering "Ah! get it, out get it out!" frantically, slamming his elbow into the blonde's head while he was at it, and sending him tumbling to the ground.

And after making sure that there weren't any signs of 'eggs' of any kind in his hair, Ryou rubbed his elbow from the impact and noticed the tombkeeper unconscious on the ground, with swirls for eyes and a sturdylump growing out of his head. Ryou blinked, and his shoulders sagged nervously.

"Kami-sama… I killed Malik!" hebreathed and Malik barely managed to mutter back.

"Te...me…"

To be continued…

* * *

**A/N:** a little attempt at humor…silly me. I sort of liked Ryou /Bakura's dub voice in the U.S. version, thought it was sexy.Also, i'm not too fond of using Japanese words so much only because i don't know the language and just kinda feels wrong, i just tried to make that last part not sound so much like our favorite construction-paper toon. -laughs- 

South Park rocks!

"kami" of course means God and "teme" translates to "you" but in a very rude way. Usually in the subbings, it translates to "you bastard" most of the time.

thanks for reading!


	4. New worlds

**A/N**: again, I don't own Malik and Ryou.

I do thank you all for your patience. Here's the next chapter, we get a glimpse of a something between Yugi/Ryou, and then later Yugi/Malik but that won't take away from the story's true pairing.

Okay I ended up rewriting this whole chapter because I didn't like the last one I had, hopefully this one sounds better.

Happy reading!

* * *

A very disgruntled tombkeeper sat tensely with his arms folded over his chest and a twitch over his brow, watching Ryou fiddle with a damp rag in his hands who sat as quiet as the surroundings around them with a frown plastered on his face, painfully wondering in what ways Malik was thinking of killing him in. And out in the middle of nowhere like the desert, he believed that anyone could get away with murder. 

Ryou dared to look up through the soft locks over his eyes and found the other shooting him back with a deadly glare; he quickly looked away while biting his lip nervously. One blonde brow arched upward at the way those brown eyes sparkled apologetically, and Malik found himself biting down his pride just so he wouldn't end up making him _cry_, then he wouldn't hear the end of it from Yugi. So he let out a sigh, rolled his eyes and hoped he wouldn't make this sudden forgiving nature of his a habit.

"It's not a big deal you know."

Ryou regarded him for a moment, those brown eyes full and wide. "I really am sorry..."

"Don't worry about it."

"Here, take this at least--"

"I said don't worry about it!" he snapped and Ryou flinched a bit at the other's tone of voice, then sat back down slowly when he got up to offer Malik the damp rag for his head, which happened to be Ryou's favorite shirt that he took off to use for the injury he caused him.

Malik's eyes were then on his hands as Ryou unraveled the scrunched up shirt and made a sad face to it.

And for the second time since they sat there Malik felt the need to say something back to him upon seeing such a face. It was pathetic, but remembering all too annoyingly how Ryou's darker half always complained about his sensitivity, Malik needed something like a '_Fragile…handle with care' _sign to hang on him to remind him of that.

So not much had changed in the former Millennium Ring bearer over the past years, Ryou still seemed like a walking sap of emotions to him, but as those Egyptian wild eyes traveled from his hands to his long arms and then to the rest of him, his body suggested anything but an innocent pretty boy.

Ryou wore a wifebeater under the shirt he took off to use as a rag, exposing a very slim torso that curved languidly as he sat, elbows resting at the knee joints that were spread apart a little.

His legs were long too, that were lost in the thick material of his cargo pants. Because when he stood, they gave him a lanky frame, and with that pale long hair that fell in wisps at the ends and an equally pale complexion, Malik compared him to the goddesses of the ancient scriptures.

He blinked for a moment as those eyes traced the curvatures of his arms where the vanilla-white skin glared brightly from the sun. Ryou would surely get broiled to a crisp from Ra's intense gaze.

"You should put something on." He suggested while being careful to keep his voice even, at least he was trying to. Ryou watched him for a moment before turning his eyes away as he ran his fingers through his hair to tame it from the dry breeze.

"Why? Am I distracting you?"

"No. You'll burn easy."

"Is that so? Well…I don't need your help either."

Malik's teeth clenched together "Fine! Burn for all I care." and Ryou stared at him again, this time with a somewhat amused expression on his face.

"You really are one confusing individual." he remarked as he rose from his seat and locked eyes with Malik's furious ones, teasing them, then going over to where his backpack was and picked something out of it, then returned to his seat again.

He held up the tube of sunblock and threw it over at Malik unexpectedly who barely managed to catch it. "Want to rub me down big boy?" asked Ryou teasingly, making Malik blink for a moment between the object in his hands and at the other man, then let out a choked sound at the back of his throat and glared daggers at him to hide the fact that he was blushing at what he had hoped Ryou didn't mean by asking such a question.

He threw the tube back, hitting Ryou square in the stomach who started giggling at his own innuendo. "That stuff doesn't work anyway." barked Malik while looking away quickly as if Ryou was naked and dressing when drew the cream over his arms.

"It helped before…"

"The sun isn't as powerful anywhere else."

Now it was Ryou's turn to roll his eyes. "Could that be because of the all mighty sun god here?" he sneered playfully and again, Malik was left stunned.

"I wouldn't insult him if I were you…" it sounded like a warning but Ryou didn't care.

"Oh bullocks! Ra is no match for SPF power!" he said while getting quite a kick out of Malik's stunned expression. "That's right, did you hear that Ra? YOU'RE NO MATCH FOR SCIENCE!" he yelled as he waved the tube of sunblock towards the sun, and Malik just watched him half amused and half worried. Ryou brushed back his hair coyly and gave the Egyptian a wide smile, which Malik returned with a sly one of his own.

"You're crazy…" he said, shaking his head at him. But Ryou brought a finger to his lip in thought.

"Hmm, that's genuine coming from someone who wanted to BE Ra…"

Malik's smile dropped as quickly as he heard it, and Ryou noticed. Something in his mind had snapped, felt it boiling and flooding within him as mental images of being taunted and ridiculed echoed in his mind, and his own pleas of innocence overtaken by the loudness of his accusers. Ryou watched something within the other fade in only seconds, and was replaced by something else that looked like masked fear.

He placed his hands at his waist and sighed. "Oh come off it, that was years ago. I thought you'd be over it by now."

And then those lavender colored eyes clashed hard with his brown ones as Malik stood up slowly from his seat after a moment to reach the other's height in a deadly glaring match, approaching him threateningly like a predator onto its prey.

"How dare you…but aren't _we_ the proud ones," he hissed, but Ryou was unfazed and kept his narrowing eyes firm on Malik's fierce one. Because if there was anything he learned from being taken over by one nasty spirit, it was to never be dominated by anyone or anything else after that.

"The question is… are you over yours?" Malik asked in a low growl, barely showing his teeth. His face stood only inches away from Ryou's that Ryou felt his shuddering breath rustling the waves of his white hair. Then he watched those lavender eyes fall towards the smooth white skin of his neck, glistening before him in sweat and something in the back of his mind kept urging him to bite into it until he drew blood, which would give the other _some_ color and stop him from staring at it so much. How could anyone be so white?

But instead, Malik only traced the collar bone that peeked from under the fabric with his thumb, while his other fingers circled around his frail neck, all he had to do was squeeze and that would have the other writhing before him. He was trying to break through to Ryou but the other's gaze was still strong on his.

And despite how vulnerable he was from having his neck snapped in two, Ryou snickered defiantly and shrugged one shoulder carelessly, even daring to lean in closer to Malik's face to answer his question. "_Way_ over it, I'm not the crybaby I used to be."

And then Malik smiled maliciously and it was as if someone had poured ice cold water over Ryou's insides, because he could almost swear he was able to feel the blonde's darker half just lurking behind that vicious smile, and he froze. _No…he's been banished to the Shadow Realm_.

"Really? Okay then lets find out…" and then the hand that was around the base of his neck went up to the side of his head, gathering up some of his pale hair in large fingers and pushed Ryou's head against his lips so that he was able to whisper in his ear. "I know where his tomb is; would you like to visit him? Maybe pay your respects to your… significant _other_?"

Ryou shuddered at the brush of those lips against his ear and the thought of visiting the thief king's tomb sent chills down his spine. It was probably filled with all kinds of goodies just waiting to claim Ryou's soul to sleep among the damned as well. And those brown eyes widened frantically to match _his_ former Yami's eyes closely. So close that Malik thought it was his old friend again, the king of thieves.

Not a damned thing in the world was going to reunite the two again, and Ryou would make sure of that.

"Fuck you!" he spat Ryou then shrugged out of his grip and Malik grinned knowing that he hit a nerve.

"I rest my case." The Egyptian brushed past him, leaving Ryou just standing there frozen in his place, and he whistled over to his horse and mounted it, then brought his flat gaze back onto Ryou's backside, savoring his win although his grip on the horse's reins were starting to shake.

"By the way," he started again and Ryou inclined his head a little his way. "The last time somebody spoke ill of the Gods it took them twenty years to get home." said Malik and Ryou heard the horses feet trot closer to where he stood, felt Malik leaning over him from behind, saying. "Its okay…you can move in with _me_."

A chuckle was heard and then Ryou clenched his teeth together and flipped him off, then heard the other laugh out loud as he rode away.

He watched the distance in which the blonde had disappeared in for a moment before sighing out loud and wondering what it was that he got himself into. And thinking back on what he said, he didn't regret it at all as he knew for sure that Battle City was still on the back of _both_ of their minds, ready to resurface again no matter how much Ryou tried to keep it away.

_Touché asshole, but I'm not the only one still picking at scars here.

* * *

_

He didn't see Malik until much later into their fourth day there, and after a back-breaking sleep and nearly jumping out of his skin for finding yet another face staring down into his but with different colored eyes. And when Ryou managed to compose himself and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes deliriously, he found the ghostly face was no where in sight.

He trotted over to where he had his shirt wrung and left out to dry but sadly found it as stiff as a cardboard and threw it back down angrily since he couldn't wear it anyway.

The joints in his arms and back were screaming at him in pain after a vigorous workout on the fields, and then a not-so-pleasant night sleeping on top of a lumpy beam held up by two posts just to avoid anymore critters wandering into his hair. His skin--and to this he cursed at the image of a snickering blonde in his head--was sore and sensitive at the touch, so putting his crispy shirt back on wouldn't help much at all, and the rest of his shirts would either irritate his sunburn, or leave him freezing at night. He sighed in defeat, and rubbed the nape of his neck, and to top it all off he needed a bath. Heck, even a quick shower would be a blessing.

_Quick shower… _

He passed by one of his team mates unnoticeably who was shaving and grabbed one of the water tanks beside him. He stared at it for a long time before dumping the entire tank over his head and walking away. The other man gave him a funny look, before going back to his shaving.

That was when Malik showed up again in his white desert garb this time. Ryou was ready to throw another fit and possibly punch the living daylights out of him until he noticed something about him being a little off.

He rode a different horse.

Ryou dropped his equipment and strode over to the tombkeeper in the distance, all the while keeping his gaze locked on him as if he were able to see right through the white material. The man was actually fretting under the archaeologist's gaze as Ryou stood only a few feet away from him with a dead-like expression. Then after just a moment of studying the other, his eyes relaxed.

"You're not Malik."

And sure enough, the man on a pepper colored horse pulled off the material covering half of his face, revealing large blue-green eyes on an also dark complexion, and that handsome face seemed very familiar.

"Are you a friend of his?" asked the man with a heavy accent, while eyeing him strangely and he wondered why the archaeologist was soaked when it didn't even rain. His words stirred something deep within Ryou's zombie-like form from the lack of sleep he received, and he shrugged one shoulder in response.

"Well what happened to him?" asked Ryou, and he found a trace of concern in that tired tone of voice. The man managed a smile although his handsome eyes showed a flicker of a worn out emotion in them.

"I'll be taking his place from time to time, the desert could be very tiring, so I decided to let him rest for the time being." he said, and Ryou hung on to his every word. He nodded a few times and instinctively began rubbing his aching shoulder.

"Do you guys like, not approve of our work to be watching us all the time?" asked Ryou rather rudely, but he was in pain, hot, and desperately needed a shower so he supposed it was tolerable. But the strange man was still smiling gently despite all that.

"No young one, it is not that at all. It is Yugi that we're protecting." he said and Ryou's brows furrowed together as he glanced around the desert, confused.

"Are you aware that his name attracts anyone known to this desert? There are a lot of beings out there whether it be man or otherwise that would love to get their hands on him for the wrong reasons, and do you know why?" Ryou only blinked tiredly, the only thing he could think of was the Pharaoh.

"But…don't you guys protect him too? His tomb I mean…a-and didn't he pass on? So what good is dead king now?" Ryou asked and the man closed his eyes and smiled again.

"Indeed. What good is a Pharaoh dead to them other than the great rewards they could receive? However, a Pharaoh alive in another form is better than nothing at all…at least to acquire things even greater than that of money or material possessions."

Ryou wasn't aware that his mouth hung open, but he suddenly felt a whole new appreciation for Yugi more than he already did for having him as a friend. They all knew of what kinds of powers the short one was capable of, and thus resulted in attracting the spirit of the Pharaoh to him to have those powers passed on. And if whatever forces got their hands on those powers…

Ryou sighed and looked out towards the endless desert. Even after knowing this and the kind of dangers he could be placed in, Yugi's heart still longed for Egypt.

It was in his blood after all.

And that was one more reason why he had to apologize to the other tombkeeper for, which made him scowl and kick an innocent pebble. The tombkeepers were protecting anyone affiliated with Yugi and his work, Ryou was one of them so that would explain Malik hanging around most of the time. _Jackyls__…che! _

"And the bandits out here wouldn't hesitate to kill for your possessions, not to mention if you were anywhere near their territories they would skin you alive." Then the man eyed Ryou again and smiled gingerly. "I wouldn't stay out here alone either…if I were you."

He winked, and Ryou felt his blood rush into his face.

* * *

After a good while of just plotting and planning, pasting together missing documents to figure out the rest of the puzzle to their mission, the group sat dispirited around in a circle With their plans in front of them ready to be executed, but they still felt lost and clueless, and they looked to Ryou for further ideas who only sat on the highest point of the ruins just staring out in the open, his mind running around in circles on thoughts of the other tombkeeper. 

"It is…bloody hot out here." said one group member and they all grunted in some sort of agreement. So they all huddled together under a shade and again started throwing some ideas around, but whatever it was that they all came to agree on received no final response from the pale-haired man what so ever.

And suddenly as if awakening from a trance, the young archaeologist finally moved by reaching into his pockets to retrieve his cell phone that had been ringing. He stared at it for a long time as if it were foreign to him and his eyes lit up upon realizing who that would be since the call showed an out-of-area-number.

"Yugi…" gasped Ryou and the man on the other end of the line looked at his phone for a moment at the sound of the other's voice.

"Ryou, hi…you okay?"

Ryou squeezed his eyes tiredly and tried to make himself sound better. "Um, yeah…yeah I am."

"That's good… I guess. Well how was your trip? God I miss you already!" he said and Ryou sighed.

"It was okay, and I miss you too. You don't know just how much right now… oh, and my bath tub too."

Yugi was laughing. "Yeah I know how that gets. Do you have sand in your knickers yet?" he asked teasingly making Ryou laugh a bit, which felt good.

"Yeah, how the hell does it get in there?"

"You know, all my years of working in Egypt I had yet to figure that one out." said Yugi and Ryou shook his head, almost wanting to cry just from realizing how much he longed for him at the moment.

"Sorry I couldn't call you before; I was busy with my grandfather."

"Oh its ok love, we've been…_busy_ anyway. How's he doing?"

Yugi's voice on the other side sounded strained as he sighed. "I don't know he's still in bad shape. We can only do so much to make him better."

Ryou closed his eyes sadly again, sympathizing with his friend. He loved that old man as well for the times he took care of him. "Pray for him and just be patient."

"I know. It just feels lonely here with you in Egypt and grandpa in the hospital, everyone else busy with their own jobs."

"I know its hard love, but I'm with you in spirit, you know that right?" They both grimaced at the way that sounded, and Ryou quickly added "You know what I mean dammit!" he snapped playfully as the man on the other side of the line laughed a little to himself.

Yugi smiled warmly a moment later and bit his lip. "Thank you Ryou. You're really good to me, and I can't thank you enough for going to Egypt for me too."

Ryou looked around the dig sites painfully, the men were just lying around helplessly playing cards, and he felt guilt flood his conscious for receiving such praise. He didn't deserve it, but he also wasn't going to tell Yugi about their problems either until he knew he hit a dead end for sure. "Don't thank me just yet, but you know I'll do anything for you."

Yugi's smile faded slowly and his warm eyes sparkled as it was times like these that he thanked the Millennium Puzzle a million times over for granting him his wish of friendship, the one wish that made it all possible.

But then Ryou's next question made Yugi drop his smile completely and didn't know why he felt so nervous all of the sudden, and it actually took him a while to answer it as he thought of his words carefully.

"How come you never told me about Malik?"

"Why…? Did you talk to him?"

"Yeah," he snapped then paused in his words. It wouldn't do good to get Yugi worried over nothing, he had enough to worry about as it is and besides, Malik was _his_ problem not Yugi's. "Yeah, I talked to him."

"Oh…how is he?" Yugi asked in a small voice which infuriated Ryou further.

"Very good, I suppose, if I could get two words out of him without having my bloody head bitten off." he yelled and to his surprise, Yugi was laughing.

"Yeah, that's sounds like him alright. Just be patient with him, Ryou. He's a real sweetheart once you get to know him."

Ryou recalled his last meeting with the tombkeeper and scoffed. "Are you out of your mind? He's absolutely brutal!"

"Ryou…"

"I don't know which Malik you're referring to Yugi, but I can tell you right now he's anything BUT sweet!"

Silence. Then…

"I-I'm sorry, Yugi, I didn't mean to yell."

"Are you done?" asked Yugi sweetly and Ryou nodded feeling stupid.

"Yes sorry. I'm just… really stressed out right now." his gaze went back towards the men playing cards as one of them cheered in victory.

"I can hear that and I'm sorry for putting you through that stress. It's my fault after all." said Yugi and Ryou kicked himself mentally.

"But Ryou, there's something you've got to understand. The reason why Malik is like that… well, can you blame him?" he paused to sigh, and then started again. "He's really sensitive about the whole Battle City thing--"

"It's been ten years!"

"Are you over it, Ryou? And don't tell me that you are, remember, I shared a dorm with you in college…" Yugi snapped back and Ryou found himself at a loss of words. Of course he remembered all those nights Yugi held him as he cried from his dreams, or rather, nightmares. Ryou had to blink tears away even now at the memories.

"I know but…he's just so _mean _to me." he whined, and Yugi's smile returned fully to his lips.

By the time he was done with his conversation on the phone with Yugi, his mood was a little lighter and was ready to get back to work until he noticed the tombkeeper rounding up his men. They were chattering excitedly amongst themselves as they gathered up most of their belongings with them.

"Where are you guys going?" Ryou asked one man frantically, and he pointed to the tombkeeper.

"He's says he can lead us to some water to clean up!" he said and Ryou ran over to the tombkeeper's side.

"Where are you taking my men?" he asked and the tombkeeper flashed him a smile.

"They looked like they could use a little refreshment, so I'm taking them to a nearby spring." he said and Ryou blinked in wonder at him.

"A spring? Really? But… there are no springs or water of any kind on the map for at least a hundred kilometers. I checked." exclaimed Ryou and the man chuckled a bit.

"Of course it's not on the map, it's hidden and only known to us tombkeepers." he said and Ryou stopped dead in his tracks. _Go figure…

* * *

_

He hadn't seen them look any happier for days as water truly did spring life wherever its tendrils spread. Even Ryou was smiling again as he stuck his feet into the cool spring and occasionally got splashed by the overgrown men that were now behaving like children at a pool. He frowned though, really wanting to join in on the fun but something about sweaty, hairy, half-naked older men put him off, so he decided that he would splash his face a little and soak his feet.

"What's the matter, do you not wish to join them?" yelled the tombkeeper from where he watched his horse prance around in the water happily. Ryou watched large bulging bellies floating in the water and scrunched up his nose.

"I don't take bathing in front of others too lightly." he said and the man nodded in understanding.

"Then come with me, I can take you somewhere more… _private_." he said with a wink and Ryou watched him put the saddle back onto his horse, preparing to leave.

Ryou just stood there blinking, then felt his cheeks heat up. "No its okay really, I'll just wa--" but the other man scooped him up and sat him over his horse, then taking a seat behind and rode off without another word.

* * *

He took them further into the mountains that could be seen from camp and rode along the deep crevices. It was quiet all around, and the silence was starting to unnerve Ryou a bit which distracted him from the uncomfortable ride. The horse came to a slow, and Ryou was able to see a few other figures in white start to file out from behind a mountain crevice. 

The man felt Ryou tense up against him at their presence and the tombkeeper laid a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Do not fret, they are my family." he whispered softly then signaled over to the other tombkeepers.

They took the horse away and escorted them inside, leading them through maze-like pathways between the rocks that led to the entrance into the mountain range, and as they neared the entrance, Ryou noticed walls upon walls of scriptures and figures carved into stone. He let out a silent gasp and realized that he was being led into a tomb. _The Pharaoh?_

But something was a little strange, and he didn't remember being enclosed within mountains the last time they had seen the Pharaoh off.

Once they were inside, Ryou's eyes marveled at the sheer size of the place, it was like a mini city within the mountains. There were stairs and ladders that led to a second floor where there were more darkened hallways and lofts built from the presence of man. Within the lofts were different colored fabrics made into tents of various sizes that held faint glowing lights of candles and torches coming from the insides. They almost looked like dwellings inhabited by gypsies.

But the tombkeeper's movements in front of Ryou caught his attention before he managed to run into him from behind. The other man was taking off his white robe and then his head wrap, which when he did, long luxurious black hair fell to his mid-back and over his shoulders against a medium- build body. Again, Ryou felt like a shrimp against their beautiful bodies.

_Damn…_Ryou thought as he turned his eyes away.

After handing two others his clothing, the tombkeeper turned back to face Ryou with a gentle smile. "You can rest here for as long as you like, just around that bend there is another spring that collects rain water, the purest you'll ever find and the sweetest you'll ever taste."

"Are you sure it's okay?" asked Ryou, eyeing a few others that stood staring at him in one corner and whispering among themselves. Again, built, long-haired beauties that he hoped were as friendly as this guy was that escorted him throughout their dwellings.

"Sure it is. Any friend of Yugi's is family to us. But anyone who decides to give away the Pharaoh's resting place…" to this he made a clean cut against his throat with his hand, which made Ryou even more nervous.

"O-oh, I can assure you, sir, that won't happen. Y-your secrets are safe with me." said Ryou quickly while bowing a few times, making the other laugh deeply.

"I like you, I like you a lot!" said the tombkeeper while putting an arm around Ryou who froze stiffly against his build. "Erm, pardon me. But I never got your name."

"Ryou…it's Ryou, uh sir."

" 'Sir'? _sir_?" repeated the man and Ryou was deathly afraid that he may have offended him somehow. But the man only laughed again, this time towards the others that stood by. "I like this guy!" he then turned back to face Ryou again.

"I may have four children and two wives, but I know I'm not _that_ old." the black-haired man laughed throatily again and Ryou's mouth gaped open in surprise. Four children? The guy didn't look any older than he was.

"You can just call me--"

"Khalo…" both men turned around to the third voice that came so suddenly from behind them and to Ryou's unexpected surprise, it was Malik. He watched the blonde slowly approach the other man who enveloped him in an affectionate hug, then kissed both sides of his face. The man then gave Malik a secret smile before they both faced a confused Ryou.

"I believe you already met my nephew…" said the man and Ryou's gaze went back and forth between the two.

"Nephew? Malik's your _nephew_?"

To be continued…

* * *

**A/N:** I'm so sorry about this chapter if it seemed so rushed, I'll make it up to you in the next ones.

While i was writing this chapter i was envisioning Yami Bakura in my head the entire time and i think thats what i'm going to be doing. you'll be noticing some shifts in character as if they're about togo yami but remember, Ryou doesn't have his millennium ring here, and Malik's yami is gone, blame it on their years of having their yami's rub off on them. -shrugs- but i have something good brewing, hopefully it'll be good.

By the way, 'Khalo' means 'uncle' in arabic (Mom's brother).

Thanks for reading you guys!


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